Comparing Qualitative Research Designs in the Discipline of Medicine and Health Sciences - Dissertation Example

? Comparison of Qualitative Research Designs in Research Designs in Health Sciences and Medicine 29th, April Qualitative research has become more important and highly used in the field of medicine and health sciences today. Although qualitative research was not popular in the discipline of medicine and health sciences, today, this is used by physicians and clinical and health services researches to address clinical questions, as well as biopsychosocial questions. With regard to clinical questions, qualitative research can be used to address the clinical phenomenon with both social and clinical dimensions. For instance, qualitative research in this discipline might be used to determine factors that lead to increased risk of cardiovascular diseases in individuals. In this case, there is a relationship, between individual behavior and physiology, thus, behavioral aspects might lead to physiologic manipulation. On the other hand, qualitative research is able to answer most biopsychosocial questions, which quantitative research cannot (Poses & Isen, 1998). Today and in the recent past, physicians, clinical and health care researchers have used qualitative studies to answer different questions in the area of their practice. Nonetheless, in this paper, different types of qualitative studies, with various qualitative research designs, in the discipline of medicine and health sciences are analyzed and compared, in order to determine the nature of various research designs in qualitative studies. The first study is an observational, cross-sectional research, where Priti, Shirish, & Hardik (2013) investigated the perceptions of residents in a tertiary care teaching hospital in Western India on tetanus immunizations. Tetanus is a deadly disease, which is known to increase mortality rates; therefore, prevention has remained the best strategy to address the disease of tetanus. The most appropriate question, which this research would answer, is, “what is the people’s level of knowledge on tetanus immunization, and how could tetanus immunization be improved to attract more people and increase its therapeutic efficiency?” This could be the most probable question because the research was seeking people’s perception on tetanus immunization. Researches seeking people’s perceptions on a subject, in most cases aim at determining how people well understand the subject, and identifying loopholes in the subject or practice being studied, in order to undertake rectification where needed. On the other hand, although the main problem this research design was meant to address has not been highlighted; there are different problems, which this research design would address. However, the major problem this would address is “reasons for increased mortality rate by the disease of tetanus.” Nonetheless, the increased number of people dying because of tetanus would have raised considerable concern in the discipline of medicine and health sciences. Therefore, researchers in this field might have undertaken to find out why people are succumbing to tetanus when tetanus immunizations are provided. Would it be lack of knowledge on the side of the people, or inefficiency of the tetanus immunizations? This study involved a sample of 157, who were residents of a tertiary care teaching hospital in Western India. Previously, the selected sample was 257, but after using a formula that was chosen by the researchers. Nonetheless, 33 of all the participants were from the health institution’s para and pre clinical departments, 71 were from surgical department, while the remaining 53 were from medical branches in the health institution (Priti, Shirish, & Hardik (2013) Therefore, these cut through various sections of the health care institution, ensuring that each section is represented. In addition, all these participants were selected randomly. An important area in qualitative study is the way a research collects their data, the type of data they collect, and how they present it. In this study, the data was qualitative in nature. Since the researchers aimed at unveiling the perceptions of respondents on tetanus immunization, the type of data they collect would be unquantifiable, thus qualitative data. The researchers used questionnaires, which they administered to responds, as a way of data collection. In addition to questionnaires, researchers also conducted detailed interviews amongst the respondents to gather data from them. The collected data was analyzed through Microsoft excel programme, where it was converted into percentage form, and presented through tables and a bar graph. Nonetheless, this qualitative study is important in the discipline of medicine and health sciences, as it revealed the popular perceptions of people about tetanus, most of which were wrong. It also revealed the limited knowledge, which people in different departments had on tetanus immunization, among other loopholes with regard to tetanus. Therefore, through this study, the concerned health authorities would develop more recommendations and awareness of tetanus immunizations among the people, including health care providers in hospitals (Priti, Shirish, & Hardik, 2013). The second qualitative research design is by Parimala, et al (2013), who conducted a study to assess the pharmacology teaching amongst medical learners. The research design used could be action research, since this aimed at finding an appropriate action to address a given situation. This research design would therefore answer the question, “What are the strengths and weaknesses in the current teaching-learning methods employed in Pharmacology, and how can this be improved?” The study would mainly help the instructors to develop different strategies for revamping the teaching-learning methods in Pharmacology. The problem would have been that the Pharmacology department registered poor performance by students. Therefore, by assessing the teaching-learning methods, this would reveal areas, where improvement would be needed (Parimala, et al, 2013), The sample size for this research was 115 medical students. These were in their second year of study, and were enrolled in MBBS in the Meenakshi Medical College and Research Institute. Like in the first study, these were selected randomly. Nonetheless, researchers in this study chose students as their respondents mainly because for most departments in different institutions of learning, feedback from students is highly essential in determining the level of success of a department. Nonetheless, with the students as the respondents in the study, the researchers achieved student feedback, which they aimed at (Parimala, et al, 2013), The data collected was qualitative in nature, since the information the students would submit was not quantifiable, in order for the data to qualify as quantitative. Feedback, just like the aspect of perception in the first study, involves ideas and opinions of what a person feels about something they have interacted with or utilized. Therefore, the students would identify how they felt about the teaching and evaluation methods of their instructors, among other opinions and views. Therefore, this aspect makes the collected data in this study design to be qualitative. Since this is a qualitative study, most of the data collected must be qualitative in nature, just as the case in the first study. In this study, data was collected solely through use of questionnaires. Questionnaires were administered to each of the 115 students. The members of the Department of Pharmacology discussed the questionnaire, before administering it to students. The respondents, who included the 115 students, comprised all second year students in their course of study at the institution. The questionnaire comprised both closed and open-ended types of questions, which students were supposed to answer. The closed questions included ten major questions with multiple choices. On the other hand, the open-ended questions mainly asked students for their opinions on how the teaching and learning methods could be improved. Nonetheless, for the purpose of feedback, the researchers ensured that the questions in the questionnaire indirectly assessed the knowledge, attitude, and skills, which the students had gained since the start of their study of pharmacology. Nonetheless, the data analysis in this study, unlike in the first study, was conducted by use of descriptive statistics. The frequency was then shown in the form of percentage, and presentation was by use of bar graphs only. Apart from being used in clinical cases only, qualitative study might also be of use in the teaching of medicine and health sciences, as shown by this study (Parimala, et al, 2013). In the final qualitative research, researchers used a qualitative survey type of research, which aimed at determining how the process of aging affected two main groups of the elderly people, and how it influenced their level of depression and daily activities. These two groups included elderly people living in their homes, and the others, who lived in the old age homes. In this research design therefore, the type of question that this study would answer would be , “How does the process of aging affect the elderly people living in their homes, and those in old age, differently, with regard to depression, and their daily activities?” This study would therefore, assess whether the old people in the society cope well in their homes or in old age homes (Sethi, Verma & Singh, 2013). In the study, there was a sample of 200 elderly subjects. Half of these were picked from the community, and formed group A, while the remaining half were from the old age home, and formed group B. They were all aged sixty and above. Unlike in the previous studies, where random sampling was used to select the sample, in this study, the convenience sampling method was used (Sethi, Verma & Singh, 2013). The main data collected in this study is qualitative. Basic data about the subjects was gathered from the assessment forms in which the respondents were required to provide their socio-demographic data, their past medical history, family history, education level, and personal history, through an interview process. After this, each respondent was assigned a number, for the purpose of confidentiality. Researchers used the respondents’ data on the assessment forms to determine their level of depression and impairment in ADL’s. This was mainly through use of Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) and Barthel Index (BI). The scores found were noted in the data collection form. The collected data in form of readings after the scores from GDS and BI was tabulated as data. Nonetheless, the mean value, standard deviation, and P and T values for each scale in each group was calculated, and represented through tabulation. Nonetheless, this study helped to show the importance of physical activity as a way of reducing depression levels (Sethi, Verma & Singh, 2013). Nonetheless, through the different studies, three major research designs have been identified, and these include the qualitative survey research design, the cross-sectional study design, and action research design. All these are considered relevant in the discipline of medicine and biological sciences today. Cross-sectional research is performed over a short period of time or at a point in time, and these determine the level of prevalence of certain phenomena in the population. On the other hand, cross-sectional study is conducted across different groups, but studying a similar phenomenon in all group (Cote & Turgeon, 2005). In the studies highlighted, different sampling methods, as well as methods of data collection, have been used in the different research designs. Nonetheless, these are important determinants of a qualitative research, and therefore, applicable in the discipline of medicine and health sciences today. References Cote, L. & Turgeon, J. (2005). Appraising qualitative research articles in medicine and medical education. Medical Teacher, 27 (1): 71-75. Retrieved from http://www.rosalindfranklin.edu/Portals/0/Documents/Faculty%20Affairs/Faculty%20Development/QualitativeArticles_Cote.pdf Priti, D., Shirish, B. & Hardik, P. (2013). Tetanus Immunization: Perceptions of Residents in a Tertiary Care Teaching Hospital in Western India. International Journal of Medical Research & Health Sciences. Retrieved from http://www.scopemed.org/fulltextpdf.php?mno=36718 Poses, R. & Isen, A. (1998). Qualitative Research in Medicine and Health Care: Questions and Controversy. Journal of General Internal Medicine. 13 (1): 32-38. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1496891/ Parimala, K., Subash, K. R., Jagan, N., Vijay, K., Viswanathan, S. & Chandrasekhar, M. (2013). Assessment of Pharmacology Teaching – A Critical Appraisal by Medical School Learners. International Journal of Medical Research & Health Sciences. Retrieved from http://www.ejmanager.com/mnstemps/38/38-1366521899.pdf?t=1367243327 Sethi, V., Verma, V. & Singh, U. (2013). Impact of Ageing on Depression and Activities of Daily Living on Normal Elderly Subjects Living in Old Age Homes and Communities of Kapur, U.P. International Journal of Medical Research & Health Sciences. Retrieved from http://www.scopemed.org/fulltextpdf.php?mno=36738 Read More